Carbon-fiber reinforced composites are becoming more and more important in the production of light-weight structures, e.g., in the automotive and aerospace industry. Thermography is often used for non-destructive testing of These products, especially to detect delaminations between different layers of the composite.
In this presentation, we aim at methods for defect reconstruction from thermographic measurements of such carbon-fiber reinforced composites. The reconstruction results shall not only allow to locate defects, but also give a quantitative characterization of the defect properties. We discuss the simulation of the measurement process using finite element methods, as well as the experimental validation on flat bottom holes.
Especially in pulse thermography, thin boundary layers with steep temperature gradients occurring at the heated surface need to be resolved. Here we use the combination of a 1D analytical solution combined with numerical solution of the remaining defect equation. We use the simulations to identify material Parameters from the measurements.
Finally, fast heuristics for reconstructing defect geometries are applied to the acquired data, and compared for their accuracy and utility in detecting different defects like back surface defects or delaminations.
Flash thermography is a fast and reliable non-destructive testing method for the investigation of defects in carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) materials. In this paper numerical simulations of transient thermography data are presented, calculated for a quasi-isotropic flat bottom hole sample. They are compared to experimental data. These simulations are one important step towards the quantitative reconstruction of a flaw by assessing thermographic data. The applied numerical model is based on the finite-element method, extended by a semi-analytical treatment of the boundary of the sample, which is heated by the flash light. A crucial part for a reliable numerical model is the prior determination of the material parameters of the specimen as well as of the experimental parameters of the set-up. The material parameters in plane and in depth diffusivity are measured using laser line excitation. In addition, the absorption and heat transfer process of the first layers is investigated using an IR microscopic lens. The performance of the two distinct components of CFRP during heating – epoxy resin and carbon fibers – is examined. Finally, the material parameters are optimized by variation and comparison of the simulation results to the experimental data. The optimized parameters are compared to the measured ones and further methods to ensure precise material parameter measurements are discussed.